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I have to admit that although I've been a Brampton resident for over a decade now, when I have the rare time and energy to eat out, my first instinct is to head downtown Toronto. Even more so now that I practice a plant-based diet and most of the cool vegan spots reside in around the sprawling lower region of the city of Toronto. The trade off to leaving my own community for a date night an hour or more away is the ease of not having to execute a full fledged interview of a server to ensure I'm not consuming dairy.

Last weekend was the exception to the rule. Chris and I really wanted to stay close to home to catch a simple dinner and a movie. We've been wanting to try Firangi (Airport Rd and Queen) for about a month now and this bright Saturday evening was the day that all things aligned.

The space checked all the atmospheric boxes for me: modern, spacious, earthy elements, music that complements the summer night and art. Pictured above is the piece by artist Hatecopy that is a great focal point in the section of the dining room we were eventually seated - it sums up my whole life!

When we arrived, it was clear Firangi is a popular weekend dinner spot. The spontaneous couple we are, we showed up sans reservation. The hostess invited us to sit at the bar while we waited for our table for two to open up. We were there just long enough for the bartender to serve us water in these super cute ceramic cups. We were ushered to a bench booth and seated between two other couples. This quick transition set the tone for the rest of our experience. We had quick, friendly service - things moved almost like a well choreographed dance.

The menu has a clear symbol for vegetarian options. Our server was patient as we consulted with her for recommendations and butchered the pronunciation of some of the menu items.

Chris had the Raat Wali Dali, a lentil daal cooked over 24 hours with Roti. I had the Aloo Red Cabbage Tikki, a pan fried potato patty w/ panchpuran pickled cabbage, also with Roti. We also ended up ordering a side order of Basmati rice.

I'm a sucker for the use of natural rustic elements in cooking and dining. The excitement level grew as each dish touched the table. There was a small let down when we realized there was dairy, possibly yogurt, in the lentils. Our fault, we forgot to ask. We're flexible so we enjoyed it just the same.

As we dined, more families and couples arrived and the energy grew all around. The crowd was a mix of young and old even though Firangi feels like a pretty trendy spot. Although we use Indian ingredients when we cook at home, this was our first time dining at an Indian restaurant, and it was a great experience.

We're hoping to explore more flavours and will be back to Firangi when the cravings hit again. We definitely recommend making a reservation, we will when we go again.

Whats your favourite Indian restaurant? Let us know in the comments or submit a listing to our Places We Par Directory.